Use CreateSpace to Self-Publish a Craft Book and Get National Distribution

I have a friend who’s had a long and successful career in the craft and design industry. She’s hit every marker of success: she has a fabric line, a booth at Quilt Market, teaches nationally and online, and has a huge blog following. Last week she turned in the manuscript for her fourth book. And then she sent me this email:

“I feel like I’ll never do another traditionally published book. My experience wasn’t bad, it’s just the same old frustrating stuff that comes with the territory.”

I know she’s not alone in this feeling.

Over the last year or so I’ve heard this same sentiment expressed over and over again. We are at a moment when designers are asking themselves, “Does it make financial sense to write a craft book anymore?”

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In the past the way books were made and distributed forced us to be dependent on big publishing houses to get our work out. Regular people didn’t have access to the tools needed to design and layout book pages. Printing was costly. Distributing tens of thousands of copies of a book was expensive and difficult. So designers accepted tiny advances and tiny royalty percentages because we were dependent on publishers to facilitate the hard stuff.

We signed over the copyright to our ideas because that was the only way to get them out in to the world.

But now, it’s time to reevaluate. Why are we still relying on big publishing houses to publish craft books? Do they still have something we need or are we stuck in the past?

Here’s what mainstream publishers provide to authors:

1. Editing, design, photography, and layout.

2. A stamp of approval and a feeling of being chosen.

3. Printing. Most craft books start with an initial print run of 7,000-12,500 copies.

4. Marketing and distribution.

I’d like to argue that the publishers’ stronghold on each of these four tenets is rapidly weakening.

I think #1 is out the window. Let’s look at Ruby Star Wrapping, a beautiful 2012 book by Melody Miller and Allison Tannery.

“While Allison wrote and I designed projects, we had the additional job of planning the photography and design for the book. I’m lucky to be married to an incredible photographer, Greg, who happily volunteered to shoot the book. Allison’s ridiculously-talented husband, Blake, took on the art direction.”

Here is an author and her colleagues designing, writing, photographing, and art directing a book entirely on their own. A multi-talented team, for sure, and not one everyone could pull together on their own. But do we really need a publishing house to do it for us? Couldn’t we hire the best freelancers to help us, even if we weren’t married to them?

Guess what? #2 is rapidly eroding, too. As for a stamp of approval, there’s a reason Seth Godin’s words “pick yourself” ring so true for so many right now. We are firmly in the age of individual entrepreneurship. You can build a fantastically successful design business without anyone giving you permission to do anything.

On the other hand, it’s still prestigious to write a book. The approval of a big publisher still means something. If Chronicle Books thinks this idea will sell and is willing to shell out $25,000 to publish it, this author must be worth paying attention to. You know what, though? If you need a stamp of approval, you can get it elsewhere, too. Being a top Etsy seller, or having 17,000 Facebook fans, or teaching on CreativeBug can say nearly the same thing.

But now we get to pesky #3 and #4.

So digital publishing allows us to eliminate the publisher as middleman entirely. You know I’m a fan of ebooks and I’m excited to see the future as developers start to really use the digital format to enhance a book’s content. But what if you still love to hold a real book in your hands?

As it stands, most craft book authors earn $1.20 or so each time a copy of their $24.95 book sells retail. When you sign a book deal you hand over your intellectual property. You no longer own the copyright to the patterns you design for that book. Does this deal still make sense?

Are we at a point now where we can create and distribute print books on our own?

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It used to be, not all that long ago, when someone told me they’d self-published a book the following vision came into my head:

This person couldn’t find a real publisher. The book must not be very good.

They’ve probably got stacks of books in their garage that nobody wants.

The book probably looks low-quality. It might be stapled together.

Guess what? Today the quality of self-published books books rivals that of books published by mainstream publishers. You can now self-publish a book that has professional-level design, editing, layout, photography, and color and paper quality. And you can get national, even global, distribution for your book at the click of a button with print-on-demand (POD) services without storing a single copy in your garage.

One of the most well-known POD services is CreateSpace, an Amazon-owned company with the motto, “Publish your words, your way.” I wanted to talk with someone who had both published with mainstream publishers and self-published using CreateSpace so I get some perspective on this option so I reached out to mixed media artist Lesley Riley.

“My entry into the world of publishing was very serendipitous. A publisher found me through my website and asked if I wanted to write a book. Of course I said, ‘Yes!’ Amazingly, they gave me free rein on the content and did very little editing. I had some issues with how they photographed the artwork, but otherwise I was just happy to be published and didn’t think to ask for control over anything more.”

“They did very little to no marketing for me, but the book did well because we were just at the beginning of the art/craft publishing boom and the competition was minimal and the content was pretty darn good too if I do say so myself. Plus, I had already developed quite a following through in person teaching and the book was well reviewed by major quilt magazines.”

“Book #2 was a bit of a rocky experience because the initial publisher had to turn it over to another publisher. There was a time there when I wasn’t even sure it would make it into print. The new publisher was a lot more hands-on with editing and I had to stand firm on some things that they wanted to change. By the end of it all, I was just happy to see it in print.”

“Another publisher came a ‘courtin and asked me to write a book on Lutradur after seeing an article I wrote for a magazine. I said yes and again signed the contract and the first right of refusal clause.” Then I worte a second book with C&T, Create With Transfer Artist Paper, which was published in 2011.”

Lesley had a new idea for a book. It would showcase mixed media art from a variety of makers with a focus on art inspired by words. She pitched the idea to C&T since they had first right of refusal on her future books. But they turned it down.

One of Lesley Riley’s mainstream published books on the left, and her self-published book on the right.

So Lesley published it herself using CreateSpace. Quotes Illustrated: 100 Works of Art Inspired by Words came out in 2013 and is a print on demand book. Lesley actually has another new book coming out with C&T this summer on a different topic, but with POD she was able to publish a beautiful book she felt passionate about, and get the same kind of distribution she is able to get for her other books, without involving a mainstream publisher.

“I’m a can-do girl and have never shied away from a challenge. I had been interested in self-publishing since the possibility became a reality. While it is now easier than ever, there are still some difficulties and drawbacks. I was up to the challenge in part due to my experience with the technical side of photography, Photoshop, page layout and design. Self-publishing a craft book with lots of photographs is a whole different story than self-publishing a novel.”

“The scope and layout of my book was very basic and simple. One image per page with descriptive text. Even with that, I had to somewhat learn the hard way about margins, bleed, layers and primarily the fact that not all PDFs are alike. That said, I loved the process of designing my own book and having control of all the details, even down to the font I used.”

I wondered why Lesley chose CreateSpace over other print on demand companies.

“CreateSpace offers a huge advantage when it comes to distribution – their parent company, Amazon. Your book appears on Amazon immediately and all you have to do is check a box.With what CreateSpace terms the ‘Expanded Distribution’ option your book is available for order to online retailers, bookstores, libraries, academic institutions, and distributors within the United States as well as being on Amazon and Kindle.”

Authors pay for wide distribution by accepting a somewhat lower royalty per book sold, but Lesley says it’s worth it.

“I look at it as the cost of distribution and marketing. As far as I’m concerned having the book on Amazon is well worth it. The majority of my sales have been through Amazon. Plus, as a self-publisher I still make a higher royalty per book than I do with my traditionally published books.”

If, unlike Lesley, you don’t already have the technical and design expertise to create your book, or if you’d like to hire a professional editor to help you with your manuscript, CreateSpace offers a whole suite of services that connect authors with designers and editors. These services cost a few hundred dollars, but certainly much less than you give up when you sign a book deal with a big publishing house, and you still retaining complete control over your content.

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This year my income from my self-published projects (patterns and ebooks) will far exceed the royalties I earned from my two award-winning mainstream books. Even if we add in the royalties from my Simplicity patterns and all the freelance magazine and book contributions I’ve done, it’ll still be less than half of what I make simply selling my ideas directly to the customer base I’ve built on my own.

The old way of distributing information is no longer the only way. We live in really exciting times.

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Comments

Your post has me SO EXCITED, Abby! I have been thinking about this topic a lot, with many of people asking me to write a book. I have many friends who have published, and most of them are very unhappy with their experiences with their publishers, and it’s made me wary of ever handing over my hard work to a large company. This makes me inspired to start writing. Thank you!

My friends self published a book with this company.
Bible Characters for Advent: The Stories That Brought Us Christmashttp://amzn.com/1493666975
I was skeptical until I held the book I my hands. It looks very professional. And they are marketing it really well., I think they won’t regret their decision in the slightest.

I find this really very interesting. I LOVE the fact there is no longer the need for the exploitative middle man in so many areas of life now. I love that an artist can make direct contact with the buying public. I have bought eBooks and they have been wonderful. Just yesterday I was looking at self published eBooks (just fiction though) and found some great things. Apparently a huge amount of Amazon sales are now for self published eBooks. I don’t find it off putting to know that a craftsperson put together a book themselves. It’s just something else for me to admire them for. I know that it gives them more money, more input and more control over content – so you actually get even more of what you like!
I think far too many people are flattered into writing books. Often the resulting books are simply not as good as they should be, sometimes even those from favourite known bloggers whose work I know I like. Writing styles are changed, styling is done differently and it all ends up a bit of a disappointment. The pressure seems just horrendous, with huge amounts of projects which must surely lose money when compared to selling them individually. I know of just one blogger who turned down a book deal because she looked at it logically and saw her reality; lots of work for not much gain, and far too much aggravation to make it worth her while. I have long realised that people with book deals get over worked and exploited. It certainly doesn’t seem to work out well financially, something that I have heard over and over. I know it gives prestige to have a book but I agree that it shouldn’t just come from that.
Self published books tend to be on the expensive side to buyers but for the creator seller, the profit margins must be much greater. I for one would be much happier with that. Marketing your own books can really work. I was hovering around a book shop one day, looking over books and a man started talking to me. It turned out that I was looking at his own books on display. He was perfectly charming and interesting. I went away but returned to buy one, because I liked him so much and what he told me had got me very interested in purchasing. I didn’t even go home and buy from Amazon. Turns out he is known for it, and yes we did love our books too as he got great reviews on Amazon and we went on to buy more.
One thing I would just say though. If I can’t see what is in a book I won’t buy. I am actually interested in the example above, but I am just not getting enough information or able to see enough when looking inside to determine if it is something I would like. When that is the case, I just don’t buy.

You said it very well, Sara.
Some of the self-published books on Amazon are very reasonably priced, I have to say.
I agree with you that Look Inside is pretty important, and perhaps more so with a self-published book. I wonder how CreateSpace handles this and whether authors have the option to add a comprehensive Look Inside. Great question!

Abby, thanks so much for sharing this, I have pondered with Create Space for some time now as I didn’t think it was possible to create a craft book only a novel. I am going to look deeper into this. Do you know if this is something they offer through Amazon in the UK? I can’t thank you enough. Julie from Wales UK

Although Createspace is an American company you can still self publish through them if you are in the UK. I live in the UK and am in the process of publishing my first paperback quilt book through Createspace.

I have an art and design background. I also studied photography. I have sold my paintings, photographs and jewelry over many years. I have many unique ideas and methods I’ve developed over a lifetime. I have searched and do not find these ideas online – so I am not exaggerating when I tell you they are indeed unique. I am at a point when I am trying to decide whether or not to write a book. My writing skills in college were top-notch – my writing was juried into a campus publication. I could do all the writing, photography, sketches, etc. myself. I also have a sister who was an English major who could assist with editing. My brother was a business major, but also fantastically gifted in the writing and cartooning department. He could also assist me in this endeavor. We all have excellent computer skills. I only hesitate to move forward with a book because I, like others you’ve mentioned, wonder if it would be financially worth it. I do not want to share ideas I’ve spent a lot of thought, time and energy developing and not be rewarded financially for these ideas. What’s to prevent people from simply snatching my ideas and sharing them far and wide? What’s to prevent them from claiming my ideas as their own?

I think you’ll need to put some thought into this, Rebecca. When you put your ideas out into the world there is always some risk. I’ve written three books and published several dozen patterns and I understand your feeling, but for me the rewards far outweigh the risks. If it’s not something you can ever feel comfortable with, though, it may be better to not share your ideas publicly. When it comes be ensuring that you earn enough for your efforts I think the best thing you can do is work to build an audience first. That way you’ll have people to market the book to once it’s ready.

Thank you for your comments, Abby. Yes – I am just beginning to put some thought toward writing a book. As far as an “audience” – I’m not sure what you mean, but I have been producing and selling my work for decades, through galleries, shows, festivals – and even through my own gallery for a time. I am 60 years old now – and at a point in my life that I will not be doing the number of shows, etc., that I used to do. I have generated a lot of ideas and products over the years, and now my thoughts have turned to the possibility of writing a book. Whether I do or don’t end up writing a book, it’s not going to be an easy decision for me either way.

By audience I mean a way to reach all of those people who have attended your shows or followed your work through the years. You need a way to easily get in touch with all of them at once on a regular basis so that they can follow your progress and get ready to buy the book or whatever else you decided to create and sell. My suggestion would be to create an email list.

That is unfortunate for me. Most people have not wanted to be on an e-mail list. I understand that, because I don’t like being on email lists, for the most part! I get calls nearly every day wanting to sell me this or that, or soliciting money for one reason or another. People don’t like to think they might be harassed to buy something. However, I will try again, perhaps explaining that I may be coming out with a book concerning my methods and techniques. Perhaps if people think they may profit from my ideas, that will change the dynamics and they’ll want to be on my email list. What do you think?

I think you need to think through your goals. If you want to write a book so that you know your ideas are recorded and can be passed down to the next generation in your family, that’s a great goal. You can self-publish this book on CreateSpace for very little money and feel good that your creative expression has been recorded.

If you want to write a book that you’ll sell and you want to earn money to make your efforts worthwhile then that’s a totally different goal. In order to do that you need to get comfortable with strangers owning a book full of your original ideas and you need to get comfortable as a marketer. If either or both of those make you too uncomfortable than this goal isn’t the right goal for you.

Yes – I am torn right now. I too think it would be great just to record my ideas and pass them on to family to do with what they will. I could always start with that goal, and if I feel comfortable going further, I could always go further. Perhaps that’s where to start. Write a book as though it were going to be for public consumption – and make the final decision at some future point. Thanks for all your input, and I hope our discussion helps others.